Horses

Up in Jackson around this time of year you can climb aboard a horse drawn Austrian sleigh and ride through town collecting handmade chocolates from local merchants. NHPR's Sean Hurley went along on the Jingle Bell Chocolate Tour and sends us this.

Even though Kathleen Driscoll has to sit all day in a gazebo beside a roaring fire she says she has no trouble resisting the bowl of handmade chocolates before her. "I don't like chocolate," she says, "I'm not a chocolate fan. If it was birthday cake I'd eat it!"

Cher, Chuck Norris, and Angelina Jolie all claim to be part Cherokee. Today, we’re asking why so many Americans believe they descend from the Cherokee people - among the most commercially popular Native American tribes. And, another indigenous population that once roamed the American plains…from the cave art of early humans to abandoned mustangs on a New Hampshire farm, explore the resilience, intelligence and fierce sociability of horses.

Also gone from the proposed regulations are rules that would ban horseback riding on state land, including state parks. Riders also won't have to remove horse manure from trails, but the proposed rules do ask that they make reasonable efforts to scatter manure off the trails.

Horseracing is a rough trade for horses and handlers. There are plenty of sad endings for horses who get injured, or grow too old or too slow for the track. A more pastoral life awaits some standard breeds – those who race pulling those chariot-like carts thanks to Joel Brenneman. He’s a member of the old order Amish community who buys end-of-career racing horses and sells them to the Amish as buggy-pullers. Freelance writer Andrew Jenner accompanied Brenneman to the Meadows Racetrack outside of Pittsburgh, and wrote about the experience for Modern Farmer.

Animals have long played a part in human therapy and healing; from dogs trained to assist the disabled, to all manner of animals making visits to hospitals and nursing homes. For one Vermont woman, it’s a horse that’s helped her heal; not from physical ailments, but from the emotional and spiritual scars of abuse. Sean Hurley brings us her story.

Americans largely oppose the slaughter of horses for human consumption. Despite the cultural taboo, the United States is a key exporter of live horses to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada. Each year, more than 100,000 American horses are killed in North America for consumption abroad. Many American horses are given drugs that are carcinogenic to humans, putting consumers’ health at risk.

The elite athletes who travel to London for this summer's Olympic Games will include petite gymnasts, huge wrestlers — and elite horses, which compete in dressage and other events. Getting these strong and delicate animals to the Olympics is no job for an amateur. In fact, it's the job of Tim Dutta, who owns an international horse transport company.